


Overture in Thoughts

by simulacraryn



Series: All of This and Nothing [3]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Broken Families, Gen, Not Frozen Teardrop Compliant, Philosophy, Post-Series, Siblings, War, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 19:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5755396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simulacraryn/pseuds/simulacraryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first and only time Relena and her brother ever hugged had been in the midst of war, the first time they met face to face [in her memory] and the only time she would get to interact with the only blood relative she had. This time, as they talk, their entire worlds have changed and now it is Relena who is leading the way to a war of attrition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Overture in Thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> Following the events in "Resolve into Insurgency" in which Relena takes an unexpected turn and based on http://gwepisode50.tumblr.com/post/137053382785/awkward - I decided to make this fic and see how it works out. This is my first foray into writing Relena and Milliardo's complex relationship. Polar opposites coming into the same orbit, so to speak. 
> 
> Reviews are very welcomed!

AC 216.

Sleep evaded Relena these days. She operated on pure adrenaline, organizing the path for a new war. The word kept resonating in her head and she kept trying to justify herself each and every night before her head hits the pillow, the weight of the consequences in her chest. This isn't want her father, King Peacecraft wanted from his children. Or what her other father, Charles Darlian, wanted for her life. She looked back and realized, however, that they died for the romantic notion. She was fighting to make that romantic notion a reality. Seated in front of the electric fireplace, Relena wrapped herself in the heavy quilt Quatre provided her before leaving for his own bedroom.

“Si vis pacem, para bellum” - A voice cuts from across the room, forcing the ever vigilant Relena unto her feet, the quilt falling to the floor. She still wore her track pants and Heero's old Preventer's jacket, her eyes scanning the room to find her brother standing by the door way. Milliardo, Relena noticed, leaned against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest. After twenty years the siblings were still the fondest of strangers, linked together by blood and by Noin. But the way Milliardo glanced her way, studious and _understanding_ made her wish to approach him. But she remembers the first time she actually met her biological brother face to face.

It'd been at _Libra_ when she **tried to reason** so that he may stop his attempts of massive genocide. It's been Relena, in her delusional attempt to make Milliardo see the error of his ways. She hadn't understood anything about him, only saw him as the sibling who went against the late King's wishes. How naive, how immature, right? He had every right to give her shit over this, but instead, he stood there and didn't. It confused Relena, but she doesn't move, choosing to sit back down. Her knees automatically roll against her chest and she thinks of Heero. Everyone assumed he was the love of her life and he may have been, but after twenty years? Relena knew Heero and how he felt about relationships. Instead, she was his confidant, the closest thing he knew to a sister. He was the person who knew about Relena's darkest secrets.

They were each other's stable point and the world would always assume there was romance between them. No, not at all. Relena wanted to laugh when Duo gave his condolences, because he desperately had wanted them to be an item. Can't be with someone when they're the wrong gender, right? But Relena shoves the thoughts aside when Milliardo sits down on the coffee table, facing her. - “You have every right to call me a hypocrite, Milliardo.”

“That name… please don't.” - He whispers, the shame still at the forefront of his mind. - “I still can't call you Zechs. I know you loathed that name too.”

“What about Brother?” He suggest and Relena feels the cut right in her emotions. - “Are we even siblings? We're the best of strangers, bound by blood and -”

His laughter, belly strong and joyous, cuts her thoughts. Relena stops, scrunching her face so awkwardly as Milliardo places a hand on his knee. - “You and I are more alike now, than ever before, Relena.” - She has a moment, a mental jerk moment as she analyzes their predicament. She never once asked his motivation to fight the first war, and now she didn't have the heart to do so. No, not when he takes her hand and gives her a look that melts her iced heart. The politician has long been dead, the pacifist has lost her faith and all that's left is raw emotion.

“You will always be my sister.”

“But I'm failing...” - Milliardo shook his head at Relena's words. The awkwardness from twenty one years ago is long passed, washing away like grime long crusting a built home. - “Relena, holding you to be the 'one' to carry the ideals of a man long dead was unfair of me. Instead, I will give you a piece of advice because I see in you what drove people in throngs to support Treize. I see a charismatic leader,” 

Relena wanted to fight and says how she was nothing like Treize Khrushrenada, but she's silenced by her brother's look. Treize was a man of the people, but a master politician. He was one of a kind and Relena couldn't help but to realize she was headed down a slipper slope of sorts. - “Now, before you bark back and tell me you're not like him, I will have to stop you right there. Treize was loved by everyone in OZ. He was a man of his people and a man people died for. Relena, the moment you announce to both the Colonies and Earth that you're behind this insurgency, the masses will take arms and follow you. Twenty years ago, they did it as soon you appeared on that screen from the bunker.”

No, she didn't want civilians involved...

“This isn't what I want.”

“Peace is being threatened, the people won't stand for what Radotech is doing. For twenty years the ESUN has maneuvered itself to maintain both peace and harmony across the board. Secular interests wish to undo all the work, then we take the fight. It's how humanity works.” - Milliardo reasoned. The siblings felt oddly at comfort at even ground. 

“Is this how you felt when you sought to liberate Sanc?”

He had never been asked this question by anyone, not even Noin. Relena was trying to relate to him and Milliardo could almost see the parallel. The difference is, Milliardo solely thought of Sanc, of his father and mother. Thought of Relena, whom he believed dead until that fateful day. Even then, the long gone Prince could not believe the way Relena visualized things. Did she seek his approval, or counsel?

“Relena,” - Milliardo began, lost for words in his endless thoughts - “What do you want from me?” - He sums it to a question with a wide variety of answers. Did she desire Zechs Marquise, Lightning Count of OZ and master strategist? Did she desire the Soldier? Or the liberator? Was she summoning Milliardo Peacecraft, megalomaniac and genocidal bastard? The fallen prince? Or did she wish for the Ambassador? So many hats, all too pragmatic and confusing. But when his sister looked him in the eye, the man of many names and identities realized what Relena wanted the most wasn't any of the ones he could come up with.

Her brother. The one she never got to know, the one he wished he could've been. There's silence between them and it almost feels as awkward as Libra, but the way her brow creased in thought made Milliardo's palms sweat. - “I want guidance,” She replies and it becomes more apparent to her brother that all the guidance Relena ever had was Noin. It'd been through her that she'd vicariously gotten to know him and he knew, in a sense, that Noin painted him in Rose Colored Glasses. - “I am facing an enemy I knew once upon a time, the stakes are higher and frankly? I am out of my element here.”

He reached to her, as he'd done in Libra all those years ago. This time, he didn't feel awkward in making the move, instead, Milliardo reached willingly and Relena extended her arms. They were even, playing the game of war. Except she wasn't out to commit mass murder, she just wanted to liberate her people, _the world_ because that…

“Your war is to liberate the world, not just one country. I will guide so that you do not make the same mistakes Treize and I did. I follow you, as your brother – as your soldier.” - He whispers and Relena's ears perked. She loathed the title of Queen back when Romefeller bestowed it upon her, but now, the way her brother spoke it held deeper meaning – it made her truly think that maybe once, she did rule the world. - “Let me atone for my sins, and together we will rebuild what they shattered.”

Relena smiled, touching Milliardo's face.

“You've been forgiven a long time ago, Milliardo.”


End file.
